President Michael Sata says former president Rupiah Banda is trying to divide Zambians on ethnic lines. Sata says he does not understand why it should be up to Rupiah Banda to decide what race, tribe and region a president should come from. The Post, quoting unknown sources wrote that Rupiah Banda wants Hakainde Hichilema and Nevers Mumba to enter into an alliance but wants it to be led by Hichilema because he doesn’t want a Bemba to rule again, MMD sources have revealed.

International medicines financing mechanism UNITAID will invest more than US$140 million to evaluate point-of-care HIV diagnostic and monitoring technology in seven African countries. New technology could help put more people living with HIV on treatment faster and improve care, UNITAID partners said at the international AIDS conference in Washington DC. Point-of-care (PoC) technology provides health workers with access to complicated test results at the clinic level, but can also change how patients use the health system - not always for the better.

Fixed-term contract to December 2013
Location: London (six months) relocating to regional hub for the remainder of contract
Salary: £60,072 per annum pro rata (London);
Appropriate competitive salary when based in the regional hub

At Amnesty International (AI) we fight injustice on a global scale. To do that well, we need strong and coherent leadership across each of the regions in which we operate. Developing and rolling out our programme strategy for the Africa region that’s exactly what you’ll provide.

Kwame Dawes, Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, is pleased to announce the establishment of the African Poetry Book Fund. Starting in January 2014, the Series will publish four new titles by African poets each year. In addition, the Series will publish an anthology every few years representing themes, ideas and poets from across the African continent. Of the four books published, one will be a winner of the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, and a second will be a new and selected volume by a major African poet. The winner of the Sillerman prize will also receive a $1000 in cash.

The ongoing protests in Sudan have shaken the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to its core, writes Ahmed Kodouda, senior program associate for the East and Horn of Africa Programme at Freedom House. 'To understand the complex challenge the Sudanese people face, it is imperative to unpack the ruling NCP and its internal components. Fundamentally, the NCP administration is an amalgamation of three distinct yet inextricably linked entities: the Sudanese military, the Islamic Movement in Sudan (Sudan's Muslim Brotherhood) and the ruling party (or the clique of individuals and businesses under Bashir).'

In June, the International Rescue Committee, a US based non-governmental organisation, published a report on domestic violence in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, finding that abuse - including burning, battery, rape and psychological violence - is common in all three West African countries. The report stated that more than 60 per cent of women in the countries examined are survivors of violence, primarily by their intimate partners.

Tunisia's ex-strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for complicity in the murders of 43 protesters in the 2011 revolution that toppled him, a military judge has said. Hedi Ayari of the Tunis military court said that Ben Ali was judged with around 40 of his former officials, including General Ali Seriati, ex-head of presidential security, who was given a 20-year prison term.

A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study. The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined. The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for the Tax Justice Network.

South Africa’s disgraced former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, who also served as the President of Interpol, has received a medical parole, clearing the way for his immediate release from prison. Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele told a media briefing in Pretoria that his department had limited capacity to provide for the palliative care needed by some offenders. He was referring to Selebi’s medical problems, including the need for dialysis because of kidney problems.

Analysts critical of Zimbabwe's draft constitution say it is a flawed collection of compromises that is doomed to be 'thrown away by future nations'. The proposed document, which will be subject to a referendum, was crafted by experts from the main political parties to a power-sharing government that has been in place since a violence-marred 2008 election. The draft curtails presidential powers and limits terms to 10 years.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a $156.2 million loan to Malawi's new government to address the country's chronic balance of payments problems and to boost economic growth. The fund said it would immediately disburse $19.5 million to the country, which elected a new president, Joyce Banda, in April. The economy had been teetering on the brink of collapse after former President Bingu wa Mutharika told donors he could run the aid-dependent country without their help.

United Nations helicopters have fired on rebel positions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after new clashes broke out between rebel fighters and loyalist troops, officials have said. The airbourne action followed renewed clashes that broke out between M23 rebel fighters and loyalist troops, north of the regional capital Goma. The second such UN action against rebels came in response to a rebel offensive 'against the civilian population', Mamodj Munubai, a spokesman for MONUSCO, the UN mission in DR Congo, said on Tuesday, 24 July.

Expanding markets from Nigeria to China are fuelling a voracious appetite for more food. A big part of that demand will have to be met by palm oil, a low-cost fat coveted by food manufacturers and a mainstay of cooking across the tropics. Since 2000, world demand for palm oil has doubled. Millions of hectares of forest in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia have been turned over to plantations. That has prompted dismay among environmentalists and brought about tough new rules that are forcing planters to look elsewhere. One of those places is Cameroon, a central African state whose 20 million people live on an average of $3 a day.

The Angolan government is targeting protest organizers for arbitrary arrest and detention in response to increasing demonstrations criticizing the government or its policies, Human Rights Watch says.

The US government’s growing reliance on aerial drones to pursue its war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere is proving controversial. As governments are increasingly relying on drones, this Al Jazeera People and Power documentary asks what are the consequences for civil liberties and the future of war?

Reporters Without Borders has voiced its support for the one-day strike planned by Mali’s media, when radio stations will suspend broadcasting and no newspapers will be printed. In a show of solidarity, the organization issues a call for an end to the constant media freedom violations of the past four months.

At least a hundred protesters arrived at South Africa's parliament on 11 July to demonstrate their disapproval of the ongoing court case by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis against the Indian government over its patent laws. As the case draws to a close, health organizations say a win for the pharmaceutical company will be a loss to the developing world, which sources the bulk of its generic medicines from India. Novartis approached the Indian government six years ago, seeking to register a cancer drug already commonly marketed under the name Gleevec. The patent was denied and a long-running court battle ensued, but at each step Indian courts have ruled against Novartis and the company has appealed.

There are fresh fears that plans are being laid by ZANU PF to dismiss the proposed new constitution, in a move that will ensure there are no voting rights for the Diaspora. There is still no confirmation about when the draft charter will be released, but ZANU PF has repeatedly shown resistance to the document spearheaded by the COPAC team. Robert Mugabe’s party has been advocating for the ‘Kariba Draft’ constitution, which was a negotiated document made well before COPAC was tasked with setting the laws for a new, democratic Zimbabwe.

Child labour is on the rise in Ghana, particularly in urban areas. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) 2012 State of the World’s Children Report, 34 per cent of Ghanaian children aged between five and 14 years are engaged in child labour – up from 23 per cent in 2003. Emilia Allan, a Child Protection Officer at UNICEF Ghana, noted that Kumasi alone makes up eight per cent of that figure.

16 July 2012 - From early this evening, the community of SST and the Progressive Youth Movement (PYM) in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town has been in the midst of a mass action in front of the home of Amos Nkomeni, the ANC ward councilor for ward 93 in the City of Cape Town. Councillor Nkomeni’s response to the community march to his house was arrogant and dismissive, instead of responding to the demand for an end to the degrading and dehumanising bucket system imposed by the City of Cape Town in the absence of decent sanitation at SST.